As soon as December starts, all of us get excited for Christmas. The city is decorated with lights and Christmas trees, which automatically ignites joy in each of us. Christmas is undoubtedly one of the happiest parts of the month, and we all know what makes it more exciting – Secret Santa, of course! Who doesn’t get excited with the idea of receiving gifts? Although you have to give one too. But isn’t exchanging gifts one of Secret Santa’s purest and happiest aspects? This article will cover ten creative themes to make your Secret Santa more fun. Be it with your family, friends, or colleagues, let’s make your Secret Santa a memorable one.
1. The Classic One
The classic Secret Santa! We all know about this one. You write everybody’s name on a piece of paper, shuffle it, and assign each to everyone playing. You become the secret Santa of whoever’s name you have received, without revealing your identity until the very end. Participants gather to exchange gifts, pick up the one with their name on it, and guess who gave it to them. The Secret Santa can be revealed once the presents are unwrapped, and guesses are made.
2. Stone Paper Scissor
Everybody knows the game of stone, paper and scissors. Let’s turn it into a secret Santa stone, paper and scissors. In this game, everybody shall bring one gift and unwrap it once gathered, but who will receive which gift will be decided by stone, paper and scissors. Whoever wins will get to choose whatever gift they want, and the one who loses will get to choose a gift for someone else. Ultimately, whoever has yet to receive a gift will pair and play the same until everybody has received one gift. This will add excitement, competition, and many more laughs to the game whenever someone wins and gets a gift that someone else wants.
3. Color Swap
In this game, everyone will be assigned a particular color and will buy a gift resembling that color. For example, if you’ve received yellow, then you can buy a yellow color eatable package or a cute little minion. Participants will gather and guess which color present someone has brought, and if they guess it right, they get to keep the gift and if not, then they shall give their gift to them. Keep playing until everyone has received a gift and eventually, the fewer colors are left, the easier it’ll become for you to guess, and everybody will get a gift by the end.
4. Roll The Dice
In this game, players will roll the dice one by one and just like how ludo works, you can only receive your gift once you get ‘one’ on the dice, and the person who receives ‘six’ can choose any gift they want or even swap it from the one who got ‘one’ on the dice. Other numbers remain invalid. You are supposed to roll the dice only once, then pass it to the next person, and wait until your turn arrives again. This will make the game longer and much more fun!
5. Uno Reverse Secret Santa
In this game, let’s turn the classic Secret Santa around. Write everybody’s name on paper, shuffle, and pick one. But this time, the person who receives a name doesn’t become a gifter but a giftee! Whoever’s name you receive will bring you a gift, and someone else will get your name, too, so the gift you bring will be theirs on the gift exchange day. Once you gather the gifts, you shall ask for the gift from the person whose name you received. This game adds a twist to the traditional Secret Santa and can lead to some interesting gift exchanges.
6. A Piece of Heart Exchange
For a more meaningful and budget-friendly Secret Santa, consider ‘A Piece of Heart Exchange ‘. Instead of buying gifts, give something you hold dear or no longer use. This personal exchange of items serves as a memento, strengthening your bond with the recipient, be it a friend or a colleague. The gift will always remind you of the person who gave it to you, as it’s a part of their life, not just something they bought.
7. Express Through Letters
Gifts don’t always have to be materialistic; some things hold more value than just something bought with money; one of them is letters, the most meaningful gift one can give or receive. If you are a letter person or even if you are not, this is the best game for you to express! Write a letter for whoever’s name you’ve received, even if you don’t know them very well; this is a chance to know them better by writing a few good words for them and starting a new connection.
8. Fictional Secret Santa
Who doesn’t want to live their fictional stories in reality? All of us do! In this game, instead of writing names, the participants will write the name of their favorite fictional character, and you are supposed to bring a gift related to the fictional character’s name you have received. Be it a poster, a keychain, or a character figure statue. To make it more exciting and fictional, everybody shall dress up as their favorite character, the one you wrote on the piece of paper. Once the participants gather with the gifts, you will automatically know who you have brought the gift for, as they’ll be dressed up in that character.
9. Artistic Secret Santa
If you like art or even if you don’t, this will bring your inner artist out. In this game, participants shall paint something for the person whose name they’ve received. Paint on a canvas, paint a cup or a phone cover, or make something with your hands. This way, you will realize your potential to make something even if you are a non-artist, and if you love art, then you will ace it. This game will expose everybody’s inner artists and talents, and the gift will hold much more value as it will be handmade.
10. Make A Wish
Let’s make the game simpler and straightforward so that everybody gets what they want. Instead of writing names in this game, write whatever you want (within a budget; don’t wish for a car or a house). To make this interesting, once all the participants gather with the gifts, guess who has wished for what you brought; if you guess it right, you get an additional gift from that person, and if not, you just hand over their gift to them.
11. Treasure Hunt
This has to be one of the most exciting Secret Santa games. In this game, whoever’s name you’ve received, bring a gift for them and hide it somewhere. Then, prepare a series of clues for them to find the gift instead of giving it right away. This will make the game chaotic, fun, and challenging and also add a bit of suspense when the participants are finding their gifts. You will indeed feel nostalgia while playing it and be reminded of childhood, and what better occasion than Christmas to turn into a kid again? You can also keep a prize for the one who completes the talent hunt first and finds their gift before others to spark competition.
12. Alphabetical Gift Exchange
In this game, write the participants’ names on a piece of paper, and whatever name you receive, bring the gift starting with the first letter of the name. For example, if you’ve received the name “Celina”, you can bring something that starts with “c” – chocolates. This way, you won’t have to contemplate much about what to give someone; gift anything that starts with their first initial. (Although, don’t bring something completely useless just because it starts with their initial)
13. Secret Santa Auction
You can host a gift auction to add thrill and competition to the game. To play this game, every participant will bring a wrapped present. Then, give every participant a set amount of fake currency and start bidding on the wrapped presents. You have to guess either by the size of the present or your instinct, which present is the best. Whoever bids the highest on a particular gift shall get it. Once the auction ends and everybody has purchased a gift, unwrap the presents and see what you have all purchased with your fake currency. You can also give an additional prize to the person whose gift was sold at the highest bid.
Conclusion
Secret Santa is one of the most exciting parts of Christmas and a great team activity. It doesn’t only bring joy but also helps deepen the connection between coworkers and friends. Playing alternate versions of this game will help you know each other better than just playing the classic one. Especially colleagues will have a blast playing the different versions of the game. There is no Christmas without presents and fun, so pick a version for your team and have one of the most astounding Secret Santa this Christmas.
